I love where you are going with this, but your discussion of Alistair has wandered off and this thread is for discussing Alistair. If you like (and I highly encourage you to do so) take this discussion of Irina to her thread.

Sadly, I am one of "those" that are refusing to read The Unmentionable Manuscript in hopes that it will speed up it's completion. So, I can't quite relate...I can only relate to the mating of vampires through Bella's eyes in her newborn experience with Edward - which as we know is quite unique. Therefore, I am unsure of whether or not Alistair had a mate. I would say it makes his story more tragic if he is living without his mate...but then again, it could be fascinating if he hasn't mated and was only wary due to some sort of vampire wars ended by Volturri justice.

I am the Impulsive VampVixen.Thanks toSprtyGalandFryfor the AWESOME banner!

una wrote:So, I can't quite relate...I can only relate to the mating of vampires through Bella's eyes in her newborn experience with Edward

You could reread Mind over Matter pg 265. Edward describes a little how he fell in love, as he watched Bella sleep, and how jealousy led to him giving up the fight, changing everything.

PS

So I was thinking how Alistair's gift might work compared to James and Demetri.

We know Demetri's gift is mental and that he doesn't need any description of his target at all. (he was able to find Victoria without any evidence connecting her to her crime)So maybe he's simply searching all minds within a ~100 mile radius until he catches the one he is looking for.And that's why the Volturi entered and exited the clearing from the west (not east), when they found Victoria.They must have taken a plane to Seattle, and then a car from and back to the airport (staying inconspicuous), going on a wide search grid between Seattle and Forks (guessing Victoria's target) and stopping every so often for Demetri to work his magic.And that's why the Volturi didn't realize, that Demetri can't find Bella, or that Bree and Diego were hiding near the clearing, because Demetri needs to concentrate for a while and be fairly close (not around the globe) to catch the tenor of his target's mind. (which makes sense, as his gift is similar to Edward's)I imagine him going to look for Bella, only to check half the planet, before finally giving up. And that's why Alistair could outrun the Volturi indefinitely, without them cutting him off, because he just needs to stay out of Demetri's reach. [the same goes for everyone, who knows, where Demetri is at all times, like Alice, James, Alistair, ...as well as everyone, who can "block" Demetri's gift for a while when he gets close, just long enough to escape out of his reach, like Fred and everyone Bella shields]

James' gift on the other hand couldn't be mental, or he wouldn't have found Bella so quickly. He said: "Humans can be very predictable...it was just a hunch. I usually get a feeling about the prey that I'm hunting, a sixth sense, if you will."So maybe his gift was similar to Alice's (wouldn't that be ironic ) predicting his prey's movements, once it decides upon it. And the sense got stronger, the more he "attuned" himself with his prey, by watching Bella's home movies. And that's why Victoria was so good at hiding from Alice, because she had a lot of practice with James.

Now Alistair's gift seems to be physical. (like Benjamin or Jasper )Bella said: "Alistair just felt an elusive pull toward whatever he was seeking"So maybe he can find not only people, but also objects! (though maybe he needs a physical description of them)That would make him a great detective, finding evidence very easily.And maybe Alistair and Garrett could go on a real treasure hunt someday, so that they can bring them home as gifts to their loved ones.

So we got three trackers with very different gifts. The first using a mental link to pinpoint and follow his target in a very large area.The second using a precognitive link to predict his target's movements. And the third using a physical link to pull himself toward his target.

When I picture Alistair I always see a bit of Buffy's Spike. Long black coat, bleach bonde hair, a bit older than Spike, deep lines in his grumpy looking face. And Spike also had a time where he saw things and felt hunted, hiding in the high schools basement.

About the reason why Alistair is the way he is? Well he could have been into politics, maybe a radical group that was observed by the government (or at least that's what he thought) or maybe he just lived in times in England when Prostestants and Catholics fighted for power and he worked for one them seeing what they were doing with their power instead of helping the people. Maybe he lived during the time poeple were burned as witches and wizards just because someone said there were into black magic. And the reason why he is misantrophic...that could have something to do with him trying to avoid any from of trouble from authority, because you never know who could be a spy. On the other hand it doesn't even need to be that much. I think I am a little misatrophic myself. I just don't enjoy the company of most people and spend a lot of time on my own and don't mind that at all, because then I don't have to pretend any interest. There are only a few people who I really care about...Maybe he's similar, maybe he just wants to be alone and not friendly when it's expected and not polite just because that's the way you're supposed to act. I am sure he is into Philosophie and requests human and vampire's rules and has an own opinion about these things...

I'm sort of on board with pyrosis on this one . . . I suspect Alistair tangled with the law or with local officials in his human years by breaking laws, witnessing arbitrary, unjust officials in action, or both. I imagine I'd also be misanthropic and prone to isolation if I were born in 12th to 16th century England. It was a brutal period in England's history--especially for the common people. They had no rights nor protection from vicious landlords or greedy local officials. Any one of a dozen experiences could have led to his hatred of humanity, but I would guess that his level of hatred would have had its roots in his loss of family or loved ones in horrible, unjust ways. As a human, it would have been a lot safer in those years to lie as low as possible and escape the notice of anyone at all.

I don't think it was really unusual for Alistair to travel solo; that was the norm for Stephenie's vampires, was it not? Like Garrett. Sometimes vampires mated, or traveled in groups of two or three, but mostly they were solitary. Given Alistairs talent for tracking, I'm assuming he had an instinct while he was human for avoiding people he didn't want to meet up with, and when he was transformed, it became an extra talent.

I really like Alistair's character, but I wasn't that sad that he left, it certianly fit my idea of him. I imagine him to be a really very old vampire, because that could account for his not having close friends. Perhaps they could all have died? I like to think that he once had a coven, around the time that the British were colonising America. In my imagination they decided to go to America too, but all except Alistair were destroyed by people like Carlisle's father, at which point Alistair fled back to England and shunned friendship in his grief.

Alistair is certainly one of my favored characters. I believe that if his story had been developed...fleshed out a bit more fully while still in the canon universe, there would have been quite an abundance of intrigue circling about him. I have had many moments in which Alistair has popped into my mind and has simply taken over my thoughts and fingers to create a spiel. He is one stubborn creature, indeed. I also have quite a few ideas on his personality...and 'talents,' if you will.

May The Muses Ever Be With You May Your Ink Never Run Dry May Your Fingers Ever Type True Sincerely: P.A.T.